Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Safe Harbor International Relief is sponsoring this petition so that you can help be a voice for the voiceless. Thank you for taking these few moments to become acquainted with those suffering under the genocide in Sudan.

Early one morning in April of 1998 a man came running to Rebecca’s family and said, "do you see that smoke? The troops are coming!" Rebecca’s mother could not run because she was at full term in her pregnancy. As they were running her mother had to sit down and when she got up the ground was wet as her water had broken. It was decided that they all stay together and hide close to the house. They went to find someplace to hide down by a dry riverbed. They could hear a lot of shooting.

Three of the militia found Rebecca and her family hiding, two of them were on horses and one of them was on foot. The militia shot her stepmother (Rebecca’s father had two wives) in the leg and chest and she was killed. He then shot two of the children in the stomach and one in the arm. Rebecca’s mother told her to save herself and not to worry about her. She started to run, took a few steps and was shot in the leg. She looked down at her leg now covered with blood that was burning with heat and saw pieces of her bone sticking out. The militia then shot her mother in the back as she was lying on the ground with Rebecca’s 4-year-old sister in her arms. He then put the gun to the head of Rebecca’s five-year-old brother and shot him dead.

Rebecca was carried from her village to another where an airstrip was located and was then flown to a Red Cross hospital in Kenya. Her mother and the baby she carried died a few days later, Rebecca would never see them again.

These were not soldiers. They were not combatants in any way. They were not resisting. They were innocent women and children. Someone has got to care. Someone has got to speak up for those unable to speak for themselves.

We know that you cannot read this and not care. Former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, while she was still in office, stated that Sudan is, "not marketable" to the American public. We do not believe that. We believe that the American public has not been informed of the genocide, religious persecution, slavery and the forced famines taking place in our time. We urge that Congress and President Bush work together to deny American investment dollars to those foreign oil companies operating in Sudan and contributing to massive human destruction and suffering. This should be done by means of "capital market sanctions," which must be fashioned to deny these oil companies the ability to trade their shares on American stock exchanges and raise American money for their operations, including the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Only when oil companies see that there is a significant price to be paid for their willing complicity in Sudan's agony can we expect them to withdraw or suspend operations pending the negotiation of a just peace for all the peoples of Sudan. Will you help us educate America and let your elected representatives know that you care and that you believe it is the moral obligation of our great nation to help bring peace?

Here is how you can help:

1. Submit this petition and pass it on to your friends.
2. Write to your Senators, Congressmen and the media to let them know that you care and want them to reflect your interest and concern.
3. Let us know if we can send you materials on the situation in Sudan for you to share with friends, family and your church by contacting us at info@safeharborinternational.org or 1-800-797-HOPE (4673).

It is time for peace and justice in Sudan!

As a concerned citizen, I am deeply troubled by the ongoing slavery, bombing, and forced starvation in Sudan, Africa. This is genocide! I urge President Bush and Congress to make human rights in Sudan a top priority and to take the necessary steps to bring about peace and justice, including appointing a high-level, nationally prominent envoy. I also urge the President and Congress to direct the distribution of U.S. aid to organizations that work in areas of Sudan where the UN will not go. I urge the President and Congress to block U.S. investments which support the brutal Sudanese regime. I further encourage President Bush to treat Sudan as a pariah nation in the same way that South Africa was dealt with during apartheid.

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